Dawson: ”Commercial vehichles and industrial power applications are obvious growt opportunitiies for CGI.”———-”We are also supporting the development of other small displacement diesel with 100 hp/l, and many of the new horizontal opposed-piston engines have specified CGI for the block and/or liner. ”

The California Air Resource Board (CARB) is awarding $7 million to CALSTART to develop a Class 8 truck that will achieve a 90% reduction in NOx along with a 15-20% fuel efficiency improvement. The project will build and install diesel-fueled two-stroke compression-ignition Achates Power Opposed-Piston Engines into Class 8 demonstration trucks that will be road ready in 2019 and operate in fleet service in California in 2020. ( det är om ett drygt år)

California’s ultra-low NOx emissions standard is 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp/hr). This program will demonstrate the first diesel engine to comply with the state standard. In addition, the engine will emit 10% less CO2 than the 2027 federal greenhouse gas requirement.

The project is part of CARB’s Low Carbon Transportation and Fuels Investments and Air Quality Improvement Program. CALSTART will serve as the project grantee and administrator.

The project team, led by CALSTART, includes a heavy-duty truck manufacturer as well as Achates Power and leading suppliers in the powertrain and emissions industry. California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District also are investing in the project.

Achates Power, founded in 2004, currently has a number of development projects underway spanning a variety of applications of its opposed-piston engine architecture, from light-to-heavy duty.

At the 2018 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in January, Achates Power and new development parter Aramco Services (earlier post) showcased a Ford F-150 fitted with a 3-cylinder, 2.7-liter Opposed-Piston Gasoline Compression Ignition (OPGCI) engine. (Earlier post.)

In 2017, engineers from Achates presented a paper (2017-01-0638) at the SAE World Congress (WCX 17) describing the development of a 55% brake thermal efficiency (BTE) commercial heavy-duty opposed-piston engine without the use of a waste heat recovery system or turbocompounding.

The two-stroke OP engine described therein employed currently available engine components, such as supercharger, turbocharger and after-treatment and featured a uniquely designed piston bowl shape to enhance mixing with a swirl-to-tumble conversion as the piston bowls approach minimum volume. This design improved fuel-air mixing and hence resulted in low soot values, increased indicated thermal efficiency (ITE)—due to better combustion phasing because of faster mixing controlled combustion—and lower NOx because of improved area-to-volume ratio and lower fueling requirement per cycle.

An optimized system included a high trapped compression ratio piston bowl, ports designed to provide best scavenging performance, thermal barrier coating on piston bowls and dual injector with an optimized spray pattern layout.

The Achates engine model destined for the Class 8 demonstration is related to the 9.8-liter unit, but with modifications, said David Johnson, Achates CEO. For one, it’s a bit bigger: 10.6 liters.

We’re aiming at the heart of the Class 8 market. The engine will deliver 450 hp and all the necessary torque, along with the ultra-low NOx.

With the reduction in steady-state engine-out NOx from the engine, meeting the ultra-low NOx specification is really a problem of cold starts, Johnson said; i.e., warming up the aftertreatment catalyst quickly.

Achates determined in earlier work that it could run in a “catalyst light-off mode”, creating the heat required to bring the aftertreatment fully online while running the engine in a relatively clean condition.

With low engine-out NOx and high enthalpy going to the aftertreatment system, we believe that we are able to reduce the aftertreatment warmup from 600 seconds to less than 300 seconds. That will enable us to meet ultra-low NOxtailpipe standards. We also deliver a significant fuel economy improvement.

—Dave Johnson

Achates engineers will be presenting a new paper at World Congress this year describing more about this approach, and presenting test data.

Thanks for the Q. Any production announcements would come from the engine/vehicle manufacturers themselves.

Lastbilar också. Från hemsidan

Recent steps by Tyson Foods, ranked No. 47, illustrate that green commitment. The company is in the middle of a pilot program with San Diego-based Achates Power. Tyson is testing Achates’ power opposed-posting engine, which has shown a 90% reduction in nitrous oxide and 15% savings on fuel costs. The program is projected to extend into the second quarter of 2020.

With this new contract, Achates has six concurrent customers whose contracts encompass five different engine applications: passenger vehicle, light commercial vehicle, heavy commercial vehicle, military and marine/stationary power

Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said it will team with Achates Power, the developer of an opposed piston engine, to develop and build an advanced technology engine for military use under a $47.4 million contract with the U.S. Army.

AT LEAST ONEAUTOMAKER PLANS TO PRODUCE AN OPPOSED-PISTON ENGINE

But the bigger bombshell was his announcement that of the nine automakers who have signed on as development partners, at least one of them has begun tooling up to build an opposed-piston engine in volume.

Achates: Opposed-Piston Engine Makers Tooling Up

That research program has yielded a 2-stroke 3-cyl. (6-piston) engine that Achates will install in two demonstration vehicles later this year. Images of the two test vehicles on a Powerpoint presentation suggest one vehicle is a Ford F-150 and the other a Chevrolet Suburban.

“The reason we went after those vehicles and targeted this product is they have the greatest need for fuel efficiency improvement, and they sell in tremendous volumes in this country,” Johnson says.

Tillägg:

Nu har Wards ändrat på tidtabellen och de skriver nu:

”But sooner, early next year, customers will be able to drive the first diesel demo vehicle,

Multi-Cylinder Modular Development Engine The A48-3-16 shares most of the power cylinder with the A48-1 and in an effort to reduce the development schedule, many components are compatible. Similar to the A48-1, the A48-3-16 is designed for a peak cylinder pressure of 200 bar with overload conditions of 220 bar. The block was cast from compacted graphite iron (CGI).

Dawson: ”Commercial vehichles and industrial power applications are obvious growt opportunitiies for CGI.”———-”We are also supporting the development of other small displacement diesel with 100 hp/l, and many of the new horizontal opposed-piston engines have specified CGI for the block and/or liner. ”

For his part, however, Achates CEO Johnson is entirely upbeat. After years of development, he insists that the OPE will soon be ready to move from the research lab to the street, and that in the near future, “Any vehicle that has an internal combustion engine today will use this engine.”

———————–

Omställningskostnaden är extremt låg

Also note that the Achates design requires only minimal retooling of existing engine plants.

With either fuel, output for this 2.7-litre three-cylinder engine is rated at 270 bhp and 479 lbft (650 Nm) torque. The prototype engine intentionally matches the size of the smallest engine (the 2.7-litre EcoBoost V-6) currently available in the F-150.

This reduces engine-out NOx along with lower requirement of flowing external EGR and hence reduction in pumping requirement. 1D and 3D-CFD models developed for the analysis are correlated to the 4.9L Achates Power OP Engine dynamometer measured data. The correlated models are used as tools to make predictions for the 9.8L heavy duty engine. Results show that the OP Engine results in a net reduction of fuel consumption with BTE exceeding 51%, as well as meeting stringent emission standards.

The trucking industry does care about emissions, but is “laser-focused on simultaneously increasing fuel economy” and reducing other costs, said Michael Held, an automotive industry analyst at the global consulting firm AlixPartners.

“Trucking companies will line up” to buy a new type of engine if the manufacturer can successfully validate its savings and reliability and durability claims, Held said.

In heavy-duty diesel applications, Redon told Trucks.com, the Achates design results in a 50 percent to 90 percent reduction in NOx emissions, a smog- and ozone-causing product of fuel combustion.

San Diego-based Achates, founded in 2004 by James Lemke, a physicist and self-described serial entrepreneur, is working with a dozen clients in the commercial and passenger vehicle segments. They represent about half of the world’s production of vehicle engines, Johnson said.

Achates gives opposed pistons a 2018 boost

Achates Power, together with Argonne National Laboratory and Delphi Automotive, say they are sure they will overcome the obstacles, and by 2018 will have a 50 percent more efficient three-liter three-cylinder engine that will be suitable for passenger cars and trucks.

We have a development program underway to create the engine and look forward to coming back to the North American International Auto Show in 2018 to show our progress and we’re even more excited to drive the vehicle later that year.

Även Achates Power behöver CGI till sin OPOC-motor

Multi-Cylinder Modular Development Engine The A48-3-16 shares most of the power cylinder with the A48-1 and in an effort to reduce the development schedule, many components are compatible. Similar to the A48-1, the A48-3-16 is designed for a peak cylinder pressure of 200 bar with overload conditions of 220 bar. The block was cast from compacted graphite iron (CGI).

AND DOE FUNDS ENGINE DESIGN. You may remember that I was writing about an interesting engine concept a few years ago, early in 2011 to be exact. And now I can do it again.

It’s not a new design, actually quite an old one, but its potential to power trucks has not been explored in the past as far as I’m aware.

I first wrote about the opposed-piston/opposed-cylinder ‘OPOC’ engine from EcoMotors International, based in Troy, MI and now owned by Chinese interests. At the time Navistar had just signed a development agreement with that small outfit to help bring the engine to market, but that came to naught.

Then I discovered another opposed-piston engine on the scene, this one called the ‘Achates’ coming out of a company called Achates Powerin San Diego. It was a compression-ignition two-stroke diesel that aimed at heavy-truck applications, but it seemed to fall off the radar too.

This time it’s running gasoline, not diesel, but it’s still an opposed-piston design. And a compression-ignition design at that, claimed to yield ”dramatic efficiency and emissions gains” that demonstrate the capability to meet GHG and fuel-economy targets in 2025.

Funded by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, Achates says the engine will yield fuel-efficiency gains of more than 50% compared to a downsized, turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engine while reducing the overall cost of the powertrain system.

Achates, Argonne, and Delphi expect to spend a total of $13 million on the program. That isn’t really very much money in the R&D context so let’s hope there are other funding sources down the road.

“Argonne and Delphi have already shown on conventional four-stroke engines that the potential of gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is significant,” said David Johnson, Achates president and CEO. ”GCI provides diesel-like efficiencies in a gasoline engine without typical diesel engine and aftertreatment cost penalties. Our opposed-piston engines have demonstrated superior efficiency and cleanliness when operating on diesel fuel. Combining our… engine with GCI technologies will forever change the internal combustion engine market.

“Our OPGCI engine will dramatically reduce petroleum consumption and CO2 emissions, while meeting current and future mandates for low-criteria emissions in cost-effective, high-volume products that consumers will love driving,” he continued.

Bold words.

The three-year project will deliver a three-cylinder, 3-liter engine applicable to large passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks, SUVs, and minivans. Due to the nature of its engine architecture, Achates says this technology is readily adaptable to two- and four-cylinder engines that can be used in small SUVs, CUVs, and mid-size cars, as well as the heavy-duty pick-up market.

No word on opposed-piston gasoline engines for medium- and heavy-duty use, not surprisingly, but the diesel concept is still alive. In fact, Achates made a presentation at one of the Phase 2 public hearings this fall.

“By adopting the Achates [diesel] engine, OEMs can meet the 2027 goals with a solution that costs less than today’s engine,” he told National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency committee members.

But back to gasoline…

“Combining two very clean, very efficient, and cost effective technologies may well yield a new paradigm in engine design that could help satisfy the challenges of ground mobility for decades,” said Dan Hancock, president, DMH Strategic Consulting and retired vice president, GM Powertrain global engineering, and past president of SAE International.

Gasoline compression ignition uses high cylinder temperatures and pressures to spontaneously combust gasoline fuel without requiring spark plugs. Achates says its opposed-piston engine uses a two-stroke design to develop a flexible air-handling and scavenging capability, which provides the necessary high temperature for stable combustion even at low loads. As well, it says, the combustion system design uses diametrically opposed dual injectors to enable superior control of fuel penetration and mixture stratification for robust ignition and controlled in-cylinder heat release.

Argonne National Laboratory has been developing gasoline compression in a series of conventional development engines for nearly 10 years. Their expertise in gasoline compression, computational fluid dynamics, and engine modeling and simulation will be a key to the success of this project.

Multi-Cylinder Modular Development Engine The A48-3-16 shares most of the power cylinder with the A48-1 and in an effort to reduce the development schedule, many components are compatible. Similar to the A48-1, the A48-3-16 is designed for a peak cylinder pressure of 200 bar with overload conditions of 220 bar. The block was cast from compacted graphite iron (CGI).

AND DOE FUNDS ENGINE DESIGN. You may remember that I was writing about an interesting engine concept a few years ago, early in 2011 to be exact. And now I can do it again.

It’s not a new design, actually quite an old one, but its potential to power trucks has not been explored in the past as far as I’m aware.

I first wrote about the opposed-piston/opposed-cylinder ’OPOC’ engine from EcoMotors International, based in Troy, MI and now owned by Chinese interests. At the time Navistar had just signed a development agreement with that small outfit to help bring the engine to market, but that came to naught.

Then I discovered another opposed-piston engine on the scene, this one called the ’Achates’ coming out of a company called Achates Powerin San Diego. It was a compression-ignition two-stroke diesel that aimed at heavy-truck applications, but it seemed to fall off the radar too.

This time it’s running gasoline, not diesel, but it’s still an opposed-piston design. And a compression-ignition design at that, claimed to yield ”dramatic efficiency and emissions gains” that demonstrate the capability to meet GHG and fuel-economy targets in 2025.

Funded by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, Achates says the engine will yield fuel-efficiency gains of more than 50% compared to a downsized, turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engine while reducing the overall cost of the powertrain system.

Achates, Argonne, and Delphi expect to spend a total of $13 million on the program. That isn’t really very much money in the R&D context so let’s hope there are other funding sources down the road.

“Argonne and Delphi have already shown on conventional four-stroke engines that the potential of gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is significant,” said David Johnson, Achates president and CEO. ”GCI provides diesel-like efficiencies in a gasoline engine without typical diesel engine and aftertreatment cost penalties. Our opposed-piston engines have demonstrated superior efficiency and cleanliness when operating on diesel fuel. Combining our… engine with GCI technologies will forever change the internal combustion engine market.

“Our OPGCI engine will dramatically reduce petroleum consumption and CO2 emissions, while meeting current and future mandates for low-criteria emissions in cost-effective, high-volume products that consumers will love driving,” he continued.

Bold words.

The three-year project will deliver a three-cylinder, 3-liter engine applicable to large passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks, SUVs, and minivans. Due to the nature of its engine architecture, Achates says this technology is readily adaptable to two- and four-cylinder engines that can be used in small SUVs, CUVs, and mid-size cars, as well as the heavy-duty pick-up market.

No word on opposed-piston gasoline engines for medium- and heavy-duty use, not surprisingly, but the diesel concept is still alive. In fact, Achates made a presentation at one of the Phase 2 public hearings this fall.

“By adopting the Achates [diesel] engine, OEMs can meet the 2027 goals with a solution that costs less than today’s engine,” he told National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency committee members.

But back to gasoline…

“Combining two very clean, very efficient, and cost effective technologies may well yield a new paradigm in engine design that could help satisfy the challenges of ground mobility for decades,” said Dan Hancock, president, DMH Strategic Consulting and retired vice president, GM Powertrain global engineering, and past president of SAE International.

Gasoline compression ignition uses high cylinder temperatures and pressures to spontaneously combust gasoline fuel without requiring spark plugs. Achates says its opposed-piston engine uses a two-stroke design to develop a flexible air-handling and scavenging capability, which provides the necessary high temperature for stable combustion even at low loads. As well, it says, the combustion system design uses diametrically opposed dual injectors to enable superior control of fuel penetration and mixture stratification for robust ignition and controlled in-cylinder heat release.

Argonne National Laboratory has been developing gasoline compression in a series of conventional development engines for nearly 10 years. Their expertise in gasoline compression, computational fluid dynamics, and engine modeling and simulation will be a key to the success of this project.